Glass pressing apparatus



Dec. 27, 1960 w. M. SHERTS ET AL 2,966,007

GLASS PRESSING APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 67 44 42 64 26 I Q E \:J K 52 I -H HI 1v "A J, i

INVENTORS WILL/AM M SHEETS JACK E. TATSAK WALTER E ZUR/VEY ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1960 Filed March 5, 1958 w. M. SHERTS EI'AL 2,966,007

GLASS PRESSING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WILL/AM M. SHEETS JACK E. TA TSAK WALTER E. ZUR/VEY BY WM ATTORNEY United States Patent 2366,09? Patented Dec. 2?, 1960 GLASS PRESSING APPARATUS William M. Sherts, Sewickley, Jack E. Tatsak, Templeton, and Walter E. Zurney, Kittanning, Pa., assignors to Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Allegheny County, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 719,221

4 Claims. (Cl. 49-72) This invention relates to apparatus for pressing glass articles such as lens blanks and has for its primary object the provision of pressing apparatus including a mold ring, a valve received Within the mold ring, a plunger ring, and a plunger received within the plunger ring having means for adjustably aligning the pressing plunger and the pressing valve by vertically aligning the inner Walls of the two rings. The object of this invention is attained by providing means in the form of ring segments engaging the plunger ring which are individually positioned and adjusted to thereby adjust the position of the plunger ring relative to the mold, and align its inner wall with the inner wall of the mold ring. Such adjustment is capable of being made during the operation of the pressing apparatus, and is to compensate for the misalignment of the various parts caused by the heat encountered during the operation, as well as to adjust the parts due to misalignment from other causes. By being able to be adjusted during operation, the apparatus is not subjected to a period of inactivity resulting from a period of shut-down.

This and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of the device of this invention;

. Figure 2 is a bottom view of the apparatus of Figure l with some duplicated parts not shown; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the device of Figure l.

The pressing device illustrated in the drawings is, in use, one of a plurality of identical devices having its lower portion secured in a manner not illustrated, but Well known in the art, to the table of a rotary turret type pressing apparatus. The upper portion of the device illustrated, as will be described, is attached to a plunger rod of such pressing apparatus. Since the particular type of table and plunger rod is conventional, no detailed decription is deemed necessary. Also, since the plurality of devices of the drawings are identical, the description of only one of the devices will suffice.

Referring to the drawings, the device of this invention, generally identified as 10, comprises a mold ring 12 chamfered about its upper periphery having a central opening to slidably receive a valve 14 which extends through the plate to a turret type table, indicated by the line 16, the valve being adapted to be vertically moved by means, such as a cam (not illustrated) associated with the pressing apparatus. As illustrated in Figure 3, the valve 14 is suitably contoured on its upper terminal surface to a shape desired for imparting to molten glass fed, usually by a gob feeder of conventional design and therefore not shown, to the pressing apparatus.

An annular jacket 18 cooperates with the mold ring 12 and valve 14 when in its illustrated position and is provided with a recess 20 therein to receive an annular plunger ring 22. The plunger ring 22 slidably receives a plunger 24 suitably contoured at its lower terminal surface to a shape cooperating with the shaping surface of the valve. The plunger 24 is suitably threaded adjacent its upper terminal end to be received within mechanism associated with the pressing apparatus for raising and lowering the plunger, and also, the jacket 18 is adapted to be raised and lowered by other mechanism associated with the machine. These mechanisms are not illustrated since they are conventional in the art.

Four substantially triangular blocks 26 are attached, as by welding to the jacket 18, equally about its periphery and each block is provided with a pair of angularly disposed spaced openings or bores 28 and 30 extending therethrough, the bore 30 being substantially square in shape. Each of the bores 28, which are screw threaded, communicate with a pair of concentric communicating bores 32 and 34 formed in the jacket 18. A sleeve 36 is attached to each block 26 and is bored to provide an extension of the square bore 39.

A circular rod 38 having a screw threaded lower terminal end 40 is received within the bore 28 and extends within the bore 32. The rod 38 is provided with a handle 42 adjacent the other terminal end. A guide bracket 44, provided with a pair of spaced bores 46 and 48, is fixed in position relative to the rod 38, as by contact with a washer or the like 4% fixed to the rod 38. The rod 38 passes through the bore 46, as illustrated. A square rod 50 having a horizontal foot 52 attached thereto adjacent its lower terminal end and being threaded as at 54 adjacent its upper terminal end passes through the bore 30. Since the bore 39 and the rod 50 are square, the rod 50 is prevented from rotation relative to the block 26 and other associated parts. A threaded cap member 56 embraces the upper threaded portion 54 of the rod 50 and the cap 56 is provided with a handle 58 passing through a suitable bore 60 in the cap. The handle 58 is provided with enlarged ends 62, 62 to prevent it being detached from the cap 56. The bore 46 closely fits the rod 38, but the bore 48 loosely fits the rod 50, for a purpose to be described.

Four ring segments 64 are received within a recess 66 in the jacket 18, the ring segments 64 each engaging a portion of the periphery of the plunger ring 22 and being supported within the recess 66 by means of the feet 52 attached to the rod 50. The ring segments are, as illustrated, chamfered to be complementary to the mold ring 12. A plurality of small stop members 67 attached, as by welding, loosely support the ring segments 64 Within the recess 66 in the jacket. A circular slug having a beveled terminal end 68 is received within each of the bores 3' 3. The beveled end of each slug 68 engages a ring segment While the opposite flat end of each slug engages a circular rod 38.

By shifting the positions of the ring segments 64 relative to the major axis of the plunger 24, the horizontal and vertical positions of the plunger ring 22 may be adjusted with respect to the mold 12 in such a manner that the axes of the plunger 24 and the valve 14 coincide. By this adjustment, the mold ring 12 and the plunger ring 22 are concentric, so that when the mold ring 12 and the plunger ring 22 are in engagement, as illustrated in Figure 3 when an actual pressing of a glass article G occurs, the inner wall of each will be vertically aligned. In order to adjust the position of the ring segments, it is necessary to slightly loosen the rod 56, so that the ring segment may be moved relative to the horizontal foot 52, and then turn the handle 42 to release the slug 68 from pressure engagement with the segment ring. The rods 38 and 5% are then tightened after the necessary adjustment is made. The construction of the guide member :4 assures the locking of the ring segments in their adjusted positions. When nut 56 is tightened, the guide member 44% will bind on the rod 38 because of the close fit of the bore 46, but will not bind on the rod 50 because of the loose fit of the bore 48. It is noted that since there are four ring segments, each may be independently adjusted of the others, making the device flexible for its intended purpose.

Thus, there has been described a structure providing for adjusting the position of a plunger ring relative to a mold so as to axially align the inner walls thereof and maintain the plunger and the valves in such apparatus with their axes coinciding. While the device has been described with reference to one particular embodiment, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

We claim:

1. A glass pressing apparatus comprising a valve having a molding surface, a mold ring within which said valve is vertically movable, a plunger having a molding surface which opposes said valve molding surface, a plunger ring within which said plunger is vertically movable, said plunger ring and said plunger being vertically movable to and from said mold ring and valve, and means including circumferentially disposed adjustable means contacting said plunger ring, for moving said plunger ring and said plunger radially relative to said mold ring and said valve so as to vertically align said plunger and said valve, and means to lock said circumferentially disposed adjustable means in adjusted position thereby locking said plunger and said valve in vertical alignment.

2. A glass pressing apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said circumferentially disposed adjustable means comprise a plurality of ring segments each engaging the plunger ring.

3. A glass pressing apparatus as recited in claim 2. wherein said ring segments are so constructed and arranged to be independently adjusted relative to one another. a a

4. A glass pressing apparatus comprising a valve having a molding surface; a mold ring having an inner wall within which said valve is vertically movable; a plunger having a molding surface which opposes said valve mold ing surface; a plunger ring having an inner Wall within which said plunger is vertically movable; said plunger and plunger ring, and said valve and mold ring being vertically movable relative to each other; and means, including circumferentially disposed adjustable members, to provide lateral displacement between the plunger ring and the mold ring in a plane perpendicular to the plunger ring axis for vertically aligning the inner Walls of said plunger ring and said mold ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Thaw-a1; g. 

